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The Orientation of Newspaper Endorsements in U.S. Elections, 1940–2002

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  • Ansolabehere, Stephen
  • Lessem, Rebecca
  • Snyder, James M.

Abstract

We study newspaper endorsements in state and federal elections, using a new data set with two samples. One sample focuses on big-city newspapers in the United States from 1940 to 2002. A second sample examines 92 newspapers, representing all regions of the country, over the period 1986 to 2002. We document two important features of newspaper endorsements. First, newspapers have shifted from strongly favoring Republicans in the 1940s and 1950s, to dividing their editorial endorsements roughly equally between the parties. Today, Democratic candidates are about 10% more likely to receive an endorsement than Republican candidates. Second, newspaper editorials have come to favor heavily those already in office. Incumbents today receive the endorsement about 90% of the time. In the 1940s, incumbents received endorsements only about 60% of the time.

Suggested Citation

  • Ansolabehere, Stephen & Lessem, Rebecca & Snyder, James M., 2006. "The Orientation of Newspaper Endorsements in U.S. Elections, 1940–2002," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 1(4), pages 393-404, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:now:jlqjps:100.00000009
    DOI: 10.1561/100.00000009
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    Cited by:

    1. Hong Huang & Hua Zhu & Wenshi Liu & Hua Gao & Hai Jin & Bang Liu, 2024. "Uncovering the essence of diverse media biases from the semantic embedding space," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Petrova, Maria, 2012. "Mass media and special interest groups," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 17-38.
    3. Larcinese, Valentino & Puglisi, Riccardo & Snyder, James M., 2011. "Partisan bias in economic news: Evidence on the agenda-setting behavior of U.S. newspapers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1178-1189.
    4. Fernanda Leite Lopez Leon, 2016. "Endorse or Not to Endorse: Understanding the Determinants of Newspapers’ Likelihood of Making Political Recommendations," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 63(4), pages 357-376, September.
    5. Puglisi Riccardo, 2011. "Being The New York Times: the Political Behaviour of a Newspaper," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-34, April.
    6. Benson Tsz Kin Leung & Pinar Yildirim, 2020. "Competition, Politics, & Social Media," Papers 2012.03327, arXiv.org.
    7. Jonathan McDonald Ladd & Gabriel S. Lenz, 2009. "Exploiting a Rare Communication Shift to Document the Persuasive Power of the News Media," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 394-410, April.
    8. Lu, Yi & Shao, Xiang & Tao, Zhigang, 2018. "Exposure to Chinese imports and media slant: Evidence from 147 U.S. local newspapers over 1998–2012," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 316-330.
    9. Sprick Schuster, Steven, 2023. "The persuasive power of the fourth estate: Estimating the effect of newspaper endorsements: 1960–1980," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 496-510.

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